The Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province has celebrated the culmination of the Jubilee Year marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word with a Thanksgiving Mass earlier this month.
It brings to completion a year of celebrations to mark the SVD Jubilee across the Province, in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar, under the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere, for Everyone’.
German priest, St Arnold Janssen, founded his missionary society in Steyl, Holland on September 8, 1875. From those humble beginnings, the SVD has flourished and grown to be the biggest male missionary order in the world, with nearly 6000 missionaries, from 76 nationalities, serving in 79 countries.
Jubilee celebrations in the Province officially began on Foundation Day, September 8, 2024, in a dual celebration in Melbourne with the priestly ordination of Cuong Quoc Dang SVD, followed by the annual Mission Day on October 12.
It rolled on throughout the year, with a series of reflections published by SVD members, lay mission partners, staff and benefactors who shared different aspects of SVD identity and the SVD’s role in its four characteristic dimensions of Mission, Bible Apostolate, Communications, and Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation.
Major multicultural events were held across the Province in places as far-flung as Marsfield, Macquarie Fields, Myanmar, Thailand, the Tiwi Islands, Rockhampton, Townsville, Dorish Maru College, Boronia, and other places, featuring celebrations of the Eucharist with processions of key SVD symbols, cultural presentations, followed by food and fellowship.
SVD Lay Mission Partners and various Chaplaincies also held events highlighting their roles and contributions towards God’s mission and the SVD seminarians took part in a pilgrimage to the Central Australia, the spiritual heart of Australia, as part of their formation in the Jubilee Year.
Five Jubilee webinars explored different aspects of the Jubilee Year theme, and the year was brought to a conclusion with the co-hosting of an ecumenical mission symposium with the Australian Association of Mission Studies in Melbourne this month, entitled, ‘Missio Dei: An Ecumenical Conversation’.
Finally, the members of the Province gathered together for the Provincial Assembly in Melbourne, which culminated with the closing Mass of the Jubilee Year at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill.
Chief celebrant at the Thanksgiving Mass was Archbishop Emeritus of Mt Hagen in Papua New Guinea, Archbishop Douglas Young SVD, along with outgoing Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD and incoming Provincial, Fr Boni Buahendri SVD.
Archbishop Young said the Jubilee was an occasion for celebration.
“We do sing Alleluia because it is Jubilee and Jubilee is about blowing the trumpet and making some noise. So, we gather together to make noise of thanksgiving and gratitude for our 150 years of being a Light in the World,” he said in his opening remarks.
“But our Catholic wisdom tells us that to our open our hearts in thanksgiving and joy we must first repent. We know that in this wounded world, even we as SVDs have wounded others through our ethnocentrism, through our triumphalism, through our pride, our arrogance, through our participation in colonialism, all of these things, which we don’t have to dwell on too much, but we are aware of.
“So we come before the Lord in a spirit of repentance, as well as thanksgiving, asking for forgiveness for the wounds that we, in our ignorance, may have inflicted on others.”
In his homily, Archbishop Young said that while St Arnold Janssen, the founder of the Society of the Divine Word, was most often photographed with a serious look on his face, he could not imagine that the German priest did not have a big smile at the celebration following the inauguration of the missionary society on September 8, 1875.
“A smile is an indication of the light within,” he said. “And the life of our demeanour is an indication that there’s a smile within.
“Light of course is what we see with and what we see. But scientists tell us that in the electro-magnetic spectrum there is a lot of light that is not seen.
“That shouldn’t surprise us as scripture scholars and theologians, because throughout the scriptures, especially in John’s Gospel, there is also a light that is not visible. It is a light that we could say is the light of faith which helps us see differently, a new way of seeing.
“So, I think what we are doing in our 150 years is looking back at a big bang, a big bang called Arnold Janssen. That he had within himself, an amazing and incredible and almost immeasurable energy that burst out and continues to burst out in the various foundations that were made.
“We see it in the numbers, the rapid growth, and we see, as we look back, at the effects of that light, what has happened over these 150 years. The huge number of people who have been affected and influenced. We see it in the multicultural Society that we have at the present time.
“So, we come together with a real spirit of gratitude and of hope. We look to the original DNA of that original foundation. We look with great hope especially to our lay SVD friends and associates and acquaintances, which of course, are also very much in our DNA.”
During the Mass, led by Fr Rass, the SVD members renewed their commitment to their vows, before once again dispersing to their various ministries.
In his closing remarks at the conclusion of Mass, Fr Rass urged those present to pause in gratitude for a minute.
“First and foremost, we give thanks to God, the Divine Word, made flesh, who has called us, guided us and sustained us as a Society from the small beginnings in Steyl to every corner of the continents. Truly as we all know, mission begins and ends in God’s grace,” he said.
“We also thank all our mission partners our lay benefactors, the countless number of people who have walked with us along the way., planting seeds of faith in many lands, often with great sacrifice. Their witness is the foundation upon which we stand today.”
He thanked all those confreres and friends who attended the Jubilee Thanksgiving Mass.
“Your presence today is a sign of communion, encouragement and joy as we look forward to the next 150 years. As we go forth from this Jubilee celebration may we continue to live our motto: ‘May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people’.”
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: Archbishop Douglas Young SVD gives the homily at the Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving in Melbourne.
TOP LEFT: A flashback to the Opening Mass of the Jubilee Year in the AUS Province, during which Cuong Quoc Dang SVD was ordained to the priesthood.
MIDDLE RIGHT: Jubilee celebrations in Thailand - one of many such occasions across the AUS Province throughout the year.
MIDDLE LEFT: Multicultural Sunday at Marsfield also celebrated the Jubilee.
BOTTOM RIGHT: SVD parishes joined in the celebrations. Pictured here are parishioners from Good Shepherd Parish in Townsville marking the opening of the SVD Jubilee Year on September 8, 2024.